Getting Ready with H.E.R. and SZA
Does getting-ready music define the mood or does the mood define getting-ready music? Either way, it undeniably lays the foundation for the night. In college,...
A Barenaked Christmas
Christmas music is a mood best supported by variety rather than entirety. Before streaming services became our de facto listening system, I recall hand-selecting five...
Japanese Breakfast’s “Posing in Bondage”
Amid the many bright tracks on Japanese Breakfast‘s 2021 album Jubilee exists the dusky “Posing in Bondage,” which feels closer to an elongated throb. Moody...
Summer Love
There’s no seasonal limit to a love song, but something about the fresh burst of summer—those sun-dappled days and heat-drenched nights—warrants a heady declaration. It’s...
Big Red Machine’s “Reese”
Justin Vernon’s natural singing voice, by which I mean his capacious baritone, not his crooning falsetto, has the most immediate physical effect on me. I...